White hot embers crackled and popped, bursting to the air. The fire was large and comfortable, but there was little glee to be found here. Men sat, helmets tucked between weary knees. Most sat in silence, some spoke in hushed whispers- voices barely rising above the scraping of tin against tin as they ate the meager nightly rations. Morale was wavering.
The sky, sprinkled with diamonds gave no comfort- it was tainted- cursed with an eerie viridescent glow, infernal tongues nipping and writhing towards the sky. It was unnatural- the tell-tale sign of the Nightmares soon to come, to swarm the city walls.
Every night their forces grow.
Every night they battered the defenses lower.
Every night more lives were lost, solider and citizen alike.
In the distance an eerie crimson glow thrums, gently glowing against the sky- with each pulse cracks forming along the crystal, and the ground below.
Time is running short...

An example of some of the gorgeous storyboarding this title brings. It adds a great sense of depth to the story. 

Age of Darkness: Final Stand is an Action RTS both developed and published by Playside. Though fairly new to the scene, over the years they’ve put out a few titles that have been met with a quite positive reception. Additionally, later this year Mouse P.I. for Hire is slated for release. (Personally I am QUITE excited for this title!) With a fair amount of positive acclaim, I expected a fairly strong title, and I can’t say I wasn’t disappointed. Bringing a wonderfully intense sense of Dark Fantasy to the RTS realm, Age of Darkness: Final Stand is a nice blend of midevil and the eerie and grotesque. Valiant (and on occasion, corrupted) knights clash swords during the day, and droves of horrid, terrifying monsters fight steel with claw when the sun falls. You often have a limited span of time to prepare, training troops and fortifying your city with walls ,turrets, lodges and farms.

Easily overlooked, the Campaign Overworld Map is beautifully designed, and easy to follow.

Though the campaign is very much a base tutorial, I would say this is not quite a title that will be through enough to teach beginner to RTS the full ropes, so some players may find it a bit of a steep learning curve. While you get your basic building tutorial, as well as how building resources works, when it comes to things like tactics, and troop manipulation, there could be much more ground covered. Long time RTS fans will have no trouble jumping in for the adventure, while there may be some struggle trying to get the fundamentals down. Other than that small hump, the controls are straightforward, and fairly commonplace for most RTS games. Though I do prefer WASD for map movement, due to main characters having moves that are hotkeys, or used for alternate functions, you’ll be limited to arrow keys or dragging your mouse to the edge of screen, though with some time spent reminding, you could easily alleviate the issue.

Despite the dark fantasy themes, the world is crawling with beautiful little details.

The storytelling and art direction is phenomenal- with beautifully illustrated panels interwoven into the story, highlighted with fully voiced and animated cut-scenes. The voice work is absolutely on point, and melds well into the tone. From old, worn and weary to corrupt drunkards, the voice work is well done, and even throughout the game play itself continuously lends to the atmosphere. The backing music is none too overwhelming, not standing out in any real sense, but it melds well with the scenario. To be fair, at often times it is often drown out by the clashing of steel and groans of dying soldiers. I sincerely have no complaints in this department.

While the story is quite mature, that's not to say it isn't without it's humour.

Some areas where I did notice issues, were things like pathing. All too often upon directing soldiers, they ended up unnecessarily hung up on buildings, blockades, to needlessly shoved in obscure nooks. While minor at first, farther into the game, this can easily become the difference between victory and defeat. Overall solider management could use some work, but of all the issues, pathing and AI is absolutely the most frustrating- making nearly any other complaint obsolete.

There will be points throughout the game where you will need to make a choice. It's up to you. Pick wisely.

The only other area I felt I had major complaints with, was in the campaign. Getting to a part where you felt you had any real interaction with Nightmares was short-lived at the very beginning, and through the first act, you’re mostly dealing with Iron Talon troops. As much as this is for story building purposes, it really makes the first part of the campaign really drag out. Not only that, with hardly any experiences with Nightmares early on, players REALLY don’t know what they’re getting themselves into as far as sheer VOLUME. When the game boasts it’s use of “SwarmTech”, it is no joke. “SwarmTech” allows the game to render over 70,000 enemies on the screen at one time, and it is absolutely unbelievable.

Nightmares come without warning, and often quickly. This is merely a drop in the bucket, compared to later in-game.

The one absolute downside of this technology, however, is you are given mere moments to have any kind of organization or reposition for strategic advantage. Waves can occur seconds apart, leaving no real time at all to change your tactic, especially when Nightmare spawns can pop up nearly anywhere. While I understand that it may be part of the immersion, I think perhaps there should have been some slight consideration taken place in this area. You will absolutely find yourself SWARMED with Nightmares, so while absolutely amazing, it also can be frustrating, especially to potentially fresh RTS players.

Depending on your choices, and if you opted in to some side quests, you can influence the outcome of your game. End of mission results are always displayed for review.

Overall, I think Age of Darkness: Final Stand is a well crafted, thought out title, that has a lot of passion behind it. Any true RTS fan will likely devour this title, with load of troops to choose from, as well as buildings, structures and defensive selections. It may not be such a quick pick for players new to the genre, but none-the-less, it has a story that hooks you by the gills from the get go, that really makes the campaign worth delving into. Additionally, there are two other modes: Survival and Multiplayer. While not everyone’s cup of tea, it’s an absolute bargain on sale, and fairly priced in general for a game of this magnitude.

Age of Darkness: Final Stand is available for purchase on the Steam Marketplace for $27.99 USD.